The TPP (Trans-Pacific Partner’s) agreement is a free-trade agreement between so far 12 countries at the Pacific Ocean, more precisely the U.S, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The agreement is closed to the public, however, some documents leaked and provides it with a small insight of its contents. Many newspapers state that it is a move against China’s growing economic influence on the world. In the following, I will write about its positive effects, negative ones and what kind of effect it will have on Japan... [+] Read more

War, poverty or humanitarian abuse are driving forces for thousands of people to leave their country. 62% of them are from the conflict-stricken Syria and Afghanistan or people who fear the humanitarian abuse in Eritrea. The International Office for Migration detected that 350,000 migrants have crossed the EU’s border between January and August 2015, but it is estimated that the actual count is even higher considering the undetected number of people. The migration route puts especially pressure on the borders of Greece, Austria, Hungary, Turkey and Italy; most migrants are aiming to get... [+] Read more

Are Fukushima’s accident showing effects in the world?
On[河上晃輝1] the 11th of March 2014, an earthquake with a magnitude level of 9 hit Fukushima, Japan, and triggered a 15-meter high tsunami, which disabled the cooling and power supply of three reactors and eventually the nuclear accident. 16000 people died and many people got sick from radiation. The radiation however is not only affecting Japan: Sea-water was and is still pumped into the reactors to keep them stable. According to the website livescience, 5000 to 15000 becquerels... [+] Read more

Are Fukushima’s accident showing effects in the world?
On[河上晃輝1] the 11th of March 2014, an earthquake with a magnitude level of 9 hit Fukushima, Japan, and triggered a 15-meter high tsunami, which disabled the cooling and power supply of three reactors and eventually the nuclear accident. 16000 people died and many people got sick from radiation. The radiation however is not only affecting Japan: Sea-water was and is still pumped into the reactors to keep them stable. According to the website livescience, 5000 to 15000 becquerels... [+] Read more

Are Fukushima’s accident showing effects in the world?
On the 11th of March 2014, an earthquake with a magnitude level of 9 hit Fukushima, Japan, and triggered a 15-meter high tsunami, which disabled the cooling and power supply of three reactors and eventually the nuclear accident. 16000 people died and many people got sick from radiation. The radiation however is not only affecting Japan: Sea-water was and is still pumped into the reactors to keep them stable. According to the website livescience, 5000 to 15000 becquerels of radioactive material have reached the ocean... [+] Read more

Reggae versus Hip hop
When I was 10 years old, Hip hop music was already very popular and my class had its first private disco, playing among other music Hip hop. Growing older, I developed an interest for many kinds of music and came to like the songs of Bob Marley. At first glance, there seem to be no similarities between the two music styles, however, there are some to be found. I will first introduce the similarities, then the differences and finally which of them I like better.
First, I will write about the similarities I have found. Both styles were influenced... [+] Read more

Thinking of Halloween and Obon, few people would think that they are similar. I certainly did not think them alike. Obon still preserved its original meaning whereas Halloween has become so commercialized that most people around the world just celebrate it as a joyous festival. In the following, I will write about their similarities, differences and which of them has more advantages over the other.
One of the similarities is that both Halloween and Obon take place in during the time between the end of summer and the beginning of winter. Obon is celebrated on the 15th of three different... [+] Read more

There have been many articles about the subject “climate change” and we learn it in school, but at present, there has been hardly any change in the way we behave in our daily lives. Politicians have one discussion after another, however hardly any action is made. In the following, I would like to write about what Global Warming is, what the future looks like if we don’t change anything and finally, what we can do to help reduce factors leading to Global Warming.
Global Warming is called the process that warms the Earth over its average temperature of 0.8°C due to the heat from the sun being... [+] Read more

The election of the location of the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and 2022 have stirred up a controversy whether there might have been corruption. In the World Cup 2018, it is decided that Russia will be the host and in the 2022’s Qatar (Qatar is a sovereign Arab country located in West Asia and would be the first Arab country to do so.). Other bidding countries for the World Cup in 2022 had been Australia, Japan, South Korea and the U.S.
The FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association, governed by Swiss law and based in Zuerich) executive committee’s voters choose the World Cup location... [+] Read more

The society worldwide is ageing, it is estimated that the population will shrink about 31.9 percent in 2060 as the average of the total fertility rate per woman in the developed countries is getting lower. Facing these problems, there are people arguing the positive effects and others the negative ones. In the following, I would like to discuss both opinions in regard to Japan and also what could be done about it.
In Japan, it is estimated that the population will fall by a third until 2060 and that 40 percent will be retirees. The social system might collapse as the money of the young... [+] Read more

The society worldwide is ageing, it is estimated that the population will shrink about 31.9 percent in 2060 as the average of the total fertility rate per woman in the developed countries is getting lower. Facing these problems, there are people arguing the positive effects and others the negative ones. In the following, I would like to discuss both opinions in regard to Japan and also what could be done about it.
In Japan, it is estimated that the population will fall by a third until 2060 and that 40 percent will be retirees. The social system might collapse as the money of the young... [+] Read more

I agree with the writer of "Make your choice: Games or Grades” that games can have a very bad effect on grades but I think it depends on what kind of games they are and for how long they are played. Some games with educational purposes can help a child to learn faster and some games are even used as a treatment for autistic people to improve their ability to concentrate. If the grades are getting lower due to gaming, it means that this child might already be addicted to it, which leads to the child losing its contact to the real world, not to mention the effects it has on its health.
First... [+] Read more

I came into contact with cranes or rather with the origami crane very early in my life and it has thus stayed a special animal to me. When I was 6 years old, my mother’s friend was very worried as her mother had breast cancer and the doctors told her, she had not long to live. Therefore, our mother taught us how to fold origami cranes and together, we folded 1 thousand cranes. Our wish did not come true but I can still remember this time vividly, so I decided to write about the symbolism of cranes in the Chinese, Japanese and Greek culture.
Cranes can be found in every part of the world... [+] Read more

Kozmoz is an international organization that helps people around the world and also organizes internships. In 1987, the founded the institution “Second Harvest Japan” in Tokyo to help the homeless and other people in need. They noticed that there are also a lot of people in need in the Kansai area, so in 2004, the Kansai Food Bank was established. The members working for Kozmoz are all volunteers and they receive no salary. They are not supported by the government or religious group, but their budget is earned by doing services to the community such as in education (for an example teaching),... [+] Read more

Omi merchants
Omi merchants are said to be a legacy of the present Japanese business. First, I would like to explain what “Omi merchants” are and then research whether their concept can still be found in factories nowadays.
In the Kamakura period (13thcenteruy) there were merchants from Omi, first only around 100 villagers, who were selling their goods (for an example mosquito nets or medicines) throughout the country and brought back specialties of the place visited.
Gradually, they opened their own shops, some firms were having around 15 branches in the late Edo period (... [+] Read more

When I was a child, I always watched my mother arranging flowers for birthdays or other festivities. I was fascinated by the way she arranged it and with how much patience and also love she created it. In her youth, she had learned the Ikebana. I have learnt a little form her, but I am rather clumsy, so I want to learn more about it. Every time when I go buying groceries, I pass by a vitrine where an Ikebana art work is exhibited. It is very beautiful. Most flowers in Switzerland are thrown together in a colourful flat bouquet, but the Japanese ones seem to live and be each of them unique... [+] Read more

When I was a child, I always watched my mother arranging flowers for birthdays or other festivities. I was fascinated by the way she arranged it and with how much patience and also love she created it. In her youth, she had learned the Ikebana. I have learnt a little form her, but I am rather clumsy, so I want to learn more about it. Every time when I go buying groceries, I pass by a vitrine where an Ikebana art work is exhibited. It is very beautiful. Most flowers in Switzerland are thrown together in a colourful flat bouquet, but the Japanese ones seem to live and be each of them unique... [+] Read more

When I was a child, I always watched my mother arranging flowers for birthdays or other festivities. I was fascinated by the way she arranged it and with how much patience and also love she created it. In her youth, she had learned the Ikebana. I have learnt a little form her, but I am rather clumsy, so I want to learn more about it. Every time when I go buying groceries, I pass by a vitrine where an Ikebana art work is exhibited. It is very beautiful. Most flowers in Switzerland are thrown together in a colourful flat bouquet, but the Japanese ones seem to live and be each of them unique... [+] Read more

Kendo
Since I have been a small child, I had a strange fascination for swords in anime or movies.
I guess, it is fascinating to me that even though swords are weapons to kill, they express respect to the opponent.
The opponent’s skill and mental presence might decide whether he/she will be alive or not.
For instance, you cannot use the gun itself to protect yourself and you don’t need to see the opponent’s face when he or she is dying due to your own action, therefore, when using a sword, you have to take responsibility, whether you want it or not. The movements are quick, calm and... [+] Read more

As we will be talking to students from Canada and America, I wanted to research about the present Ambassadors America-Japan and Canada-Japan. China and Korea were the first countries Japan had sent ambassadors to. However, not until 1860, when the Japanese government sent its first mission to the United States to confirm the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, did Japan seek to expand its relations with foreign countries. Nowadays, Japan is opening up more and more and I hope it will be open to opinions of the other countries as well as keeping its traditions. I hope the... [+] Read more